Miles Off Course

About

A Rowland Sinclair Novel

In early 1933, Rowland Sinclair and his companions are ensconced in the superlative luxury of The Hydro Majestic - Medlow Bath, where trouble seems distant indeed.

And then Harry Simpson vanishes.

Croquet and pre-dinner cocktails are abandoned for the High Country where Rowland hunts for Simpson with a determination that is as mysterious as the disappearance itself. Stockmen, gangsters and a belligerent writer all gather to the fray, as the investigation becomes embroiled with a much darker consipiracy.

Murder, Treason, Trespass, Kidnapping, Betrayal... Again, Rowland Sinclair finds himself in the middle of it all.

Reviews

The Sydney Morning Herald

"impressive stories set against the politics of the 1930s... cleverly picked up by the small Pantera Press..."

- The Sun-Herald

"Before the engine on Rowly's Mercedes has cooled, the young artist is embroiled in scandal... enemies at home and abroad, Gentill weaves historical details into a lively plot and gives her characters plenty of cheek... a rollicking tale." Eleanor Limprecht

The Australian Women's Weekly

"It's a joy to get reacquainted with Rowly and his friends as they live their luxurious, turbulent lives... a rousing read that reeks of Australia in the 1930s, a politically charged time of rapid change, privilege and poverty, glamour and crime."(Leila McKinnon)

The Age

"... replete with comedy, intrigue and the outlandish details of Australian history... Sulari Gentill is an unusually vivid and witty writer. Managing to avoid the common pitfalls of historical fiction, she delivers another daring adventure with a cracking plot, peopled by characters who will charm your pants off."

"... an author whose books seem so perfectly suited to your tastes as a reader that it feels as though they may have been written especially for you. After devouring Sulari Gentill’sMiles Off Course in a whirlwind reading session, I knew that Sulari Gentill had made it onto my list of top ten crime writers.... will appeal to fans of Kerry Greenwood’s Phryne Fisher novels... This is the kind of book that is so fun to read that one can’t help but feel that the author must have gotten a real kick out of writing it. "

"...the start of a promising new series set in 1930s Sydney about a character who is a little like a male Phryne Fisher. Rowland Sinclair is a gentleman artist who comes from a privileged background but whose sympathies are with bohemians, lefties and ratbags. It's a rich political and cultural era to explore and Gentill has a lot of fun with a hero who is always getting paint on his immaculate tailoring."

"What’s not to like about this delightful book?... tantalising titbits are scattered throughout a tale... The mystery is satisfyingly complex, offering a new twist whenever the solution seems clear cut, and the ultimate resolution came as a surprise to me... something for everyone to enjoy... Along the way there are plenty of laughs, some nuggets of historical information that will make you look smart when you drop them into conversation at your next dinner party and there’s even a lovable dog. It is an intelligent, amusing, happiness-inducing book that sits proudly at the lighter end of the crime fiction spectrum. Highly recommended. "

"I found Miles Off Course a gentle avenue into Australian crime fiction. It is a novel written by a woman, for women, and is done so in a very delicate, yet clever way. The book moves at a gradual pace, unfurling the story-line and clues slowly, but when combined with the short chapters, offering a healthy dose of cliff-hanger ends, some more suspenseful than others, it makes for a page-turner, particularly in the last quarter of the book... Overall I loved the historical charm of the setting, language and characters in this book which were superbly portrayed from start to finish. This book certainly educated and entertained concurrently and I only wish now that I had have read the first two books in the series first."

" What I love about Sulari Gentill‘s books is her mix of fact and fiction: the books are very well researched, events and moods of the time and well-known people of the era woven in with the fictional Sinclairs... Gentill’s books have a nod to Agatha Christie’s golden age fiction in more ways than one. As well as having a very readable, engaging style there’s wry humour in them... There are plenty of twists in this tale and the mystery is satisfyingly solved in a race against time. I was sorry to finish reading this book!"

Shearer's Bookshop

"The intricate storyline effortlessly weaving lies, treachery, attempted kidnappings, and missing men, is a masterpiece... it is another "WOW!" book by Sulari Gentill. Will Goodreads let me give a book twelve stars....?"

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